New York, New York – The music streaming platform TIDAL is rolling out long-awaited updates to the platform, along with the ability to stream for free.

Those who have admired TIDAL from afar but were on the fence about paying for a subscription are rejoicing, as the streaming platform is now offering a highly-anticipated free, ad-sponsored subscription option for the first time, starting Wednesday.

The free tier is currently only available to users in the US, and will grant them access to the platform's 80 million-song database with minimal advertisement breaks.

As for paid subscriptions, TIDAL is upgrading its standard paid plan, now called TIDAL HiFi, to now include lossless sound and high-resolution audio at just $9.99 per-month.

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This tier also includes high-fidelity audio and allows for offline listening, meaning you don't have to be connected to the internet to stream the songs you love.

In addition to TIDAL HiFi, there will be a third subscription tier called TIDAL HiFi Plus, which will cost $19.99 per-month.

This tier comes with Master quality audio partially thanks to Dolby Atmos, a surround sound technology that builds upon existing surround sound systems by adding height channels – allowing listeners to experience sound three-dimensionally.

TIDAL HiFi Plus also offers early access to exclusive offerings and upcoming features on the platform, while boasting a new direct-to-artist payout model, and a fan-centric royalties payout system that differs from any music streaming platform to date.

According to a tweet sent out by TIDAL, the Direct Artist Payouts program, "Will give artists access to another payment stream by allocating 10% of monthly subscriptions at the HiFi Plus tier to each listener’s most streamed artist. Artists can now benefit directly from their biggest fans on TIDAL."

Not only is the music streaming platform adding a new payout program for artists, it's also changing the way streams are translated into dollar signs for musicians.

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Rather than adhering to the current industry standard of aggregating streams and paying rights holders based on their total stream count, what TIDAL has dubbed "fan-centered royalties" will enable artists to be paid based on the streaming activity of each HiFi Plus subscriber.

Users will also have a new "My Activity" feed that provides individualized daily and monthly listening insights, and shows users just how much money their favorite artists are making from their streams

In a tweet about this new fan-centered payout model, TIDAL wrote, "Artists will see a significantly higher per-play-rate than the standard rate of other streaming services."

These changes mark the first major upgrades to the streaming platform since it was acquired by Square Inc. in March, according to The Verge.

This new fan-centric royalties model, along with direct-to-artist payouts, will begin in 2022.